Marlon Devine Santos
Five-month-old Marlon was last seen at his foster home located in the 100 block of Eastern Avenue in Worchester, Massachusetts on November 5, 1998. He was placed in the care of Jose and Yolanda Castillo in August of 1998. His biological mother was homeless & frequently left him with others for days at a time & Marlon tested positive for drugs at birth. His biological father was seeking custody of him when he went missing. His foster parents didn't report him missing for two days. Yolanda claimed that Jose was on a day trip in New York on the day Marlon disappeared. She said that she left Marlon and her two other foster children (aged 2 and 3 years old at the time) alone in the house between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. while she drove to East Middle School (which is eight miles away) to pick up her two biological children. When she came back, Marlon was gone. Yolanda drove to New York to pick up Jose before calling the police about Marlon's disappearance. The last person (besides Yolanda) to see Marlon was Jose & Yolanda's 17-year-old biological child, who saw Marlon at noon on the day he went missing, but left the house before Marlon disappeared. After Marlon was reported missing, the Castillos' other foster children were immediately removed from the home by the Massachusetts Department of Social Services. Six weeks later, their biological children were removed, but later returned. Jose and Yolanda were both ministers in 1998 and had cared for 51 foster children since 1993. Prior to Marlon's disappearance, there were multiple reports of abuse & neglect, but none of them were substantiated. The Castillos have refused to cooperate with the police about Marlon's disappearance. Jose has an extensive criminal record in his native Puerto Rico. In 1999, he was charged with sexually assaulting three female children (one of them was his stepdaughter and the other two girls were his former foster children). The authorities stated that the sexual abuse allegations came to light when they were investigating Marlon's disappearance. In October of 1999, police received information that Marlon's remains were buried on the banks of the Wachusett Reservoir off Route 70 in Boylston, Massachusetts. Police searched the area and discovered torn baby clothing, a diaper and some pieces of plastic. They believe that Marlon's body may have been wrapped in the plastic. There were no human remains located and lab analysis of the items that were found didn't turn up any clues (such as hair, blood or other body fluids). In 2000, Jose was convicted of assaulting one of his former foster daughters and sentenced to 5 to 7 in a half years in prison. Authorities have stated that there were inconsistencies in the Castillos' story. Although there are rumors that Marlon was sold in New York, police are investigating Marlon's disappearance as a possible homicide. Marlon's biological parents have been ruled out as suspects in his case. Marlon's case remains unsolved. He is described as a Hispanic male, with a height of 2'1, weighs 15 pounds and has black hair & brown eyes. Category:Missing by Year Category:1998